When you think of visiting the White House, you think of the traditional tour or celebrities being invited by the president. That perspective changed for me on March 28th. I received a congratulatory email about being selected as one of the first-ever White House college reporters. I received several follow up emails with press releases and recent controversial topics from the White House press all the way up until the morning of the event. Like any other journalist, I was given several topics and issues to study, ask questions, discuss, and report on afterwards.
On Thursday, April 28, 2016, the White House hosted 50 student reporters from dozens of colleges and universities around the nation. The purpose of College Reporter Day was to provide student reporters the opportunity to engage with Senior Administration Officials on a range of issues relevant to college campuses, participate in a Press Briefing with Press Secretary Josh Earnest, and interact with members of the White House Press Corps.
I traveled to the nation’s Capitol straight from the campus of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University the night before the event. I ran into several students at the front gate from universities such as University of Wisconsin, University of Miami, Howard University, Virginia Common Wealth University and more. I was astounded at how many different colleges and universities were represented at the White House.
After passing the security clearance, we were welcomed by some of their staff members and given press passes, name tags, an agenda for the day and a folder with additional information. Throughout the day we discussed issues related to sexual assault, students loans, and civic engagement with various senior administration officials including: Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Secretary of Education John King, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, and White House Correspondents like Jennifer Bendery of Huffington Post.
During our lunch, we received a surprise visit from Bo and Sunny, the presidential pets. The two Portuguese water dogs immediately grabbed everyone’s attention away from the food as they walked through the door. After the special guests left, students had time to talk and interview their alumni. The alumni for the students were based upon the university they graduated from and whom currently work at the White House. An aggie alumnus, Addie Whisenant, the Director of African American Media, was the person they put me into contact with.
The last event of the day was the most exciting. It was the Press briefing with Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, in the Brady Press Briefing room which is connected to the White House. This was a live web-streaming event and presented the opportunity for us as young journalists to ask any questions we had. The press briefing was scheduled to last for about two hours; several media outlets were in attendance to record and report every that occurred. After about 15 minutes, a different voice began to speak, “I hear there’s some hotshot journalists here. Josh was speaking for me, and I wanted to make sure he was getting it right. How’s it going, everybody? Are you guys having an interesting time here?” said President Barack Obama as he walked right in on the briefing. I was stunned because there was an earlier question if President Obama would stop by but the answer was “no” for lack of knowledge about whether he would have enough time in his schedule.
I was so shocked I wanted to cry and ask a plethora of questions all at once. Every student just received the surprise of a lifetime here in the White House. “Well, I heard you guys were around today, so I wanted to stop by and say hello. I also have a bit of breaking news for you, and then I might take some questions,” President Obama continued. Everyone then shot their hand up in the air as fast as they could. Questions began rolling and then President Obama broke out some breaking news, “Today I want to announce that we’re aiming to enroll 2 million more people in Pay As Your Earn by this time next year, and you can find out how at StudentLoans.gov/repay. That’s StudentLoans.gov/repay. And we’re also going to be making some additional announcements about how we’re going to get our agencies coordinating so that, as young people are managing their student loan debt, there’s one-stop shopping, they can figure out how to do it, and they can make sure that there are consumer protections in terms of how they’re being treated in the repayment process,” he continued to break down other topics discussed earlier in the day such as college affordability, economic data, and the “It’s on Us” campaign.
After the first two questions, time flew by and then President Obama began to make his final statements, “All right. So I’m counting on you guys. Don’t let me down, all right? Don’t let the country down. You guys are going to be delivering the message to your peer group that this is the greatest country on Earth, but only because we have great citizens who are willing to invest their time and energy and effort to become informed on the issues, to argue about it in a respectful way, and to try to collectively solve the many challenges that we face. The good news is, is that there are no challenges, as JFK said, that ‘man creates that man can’t solve.’ I would add women to that.”
The day ended with a highlight for everyone. President Obama made time to come speak to us. After the press briefing, we collected our things and were encouraged to stick around as long as we desired. I stayed and connected with a few students then I shot a stand-up. This was such an inspiring, once in a lifetime experience for me and the other young journalist. While waiting around in the press room, one of N.C. A&T’s own and E News reporter, Terrance Jenkins, walked in to say greet us and offer a few inspiring words on how he got started after graduation.
I’m extremely blessed to be one of the first-ever White House reporters in 2016. I will take this experience with me and continue to do what President Obama said to “[deliver] the message to our peer group.”
